Monthly Archives: July 2011

Heather Clawson is a talented young interior designer, living and working in New York City. Her blog, Habitually Chic, is one I subscribe to. Click here so you can read it, too. She works tirelessly at it–I believe there’s a new post every day (amazing). Heather writes about both interior and fashion design. Just a little blurb that’s interesting and informative, accompanied by great pictures!

Anywho, Heather recently wrote about moving from one apartment to another in the big city, and she showed us a picture of her new kitchen. Made quite the impression on me. Let’s see what you think:

This is the After shot. She’s done a great job of polishing it up and making the most of the space. Nice colors, good organization, homey touches, orginal art that has meaning to her (my kind of girl). This is the WHOLE kitchen!

There are many reasons to hire a trained interior designer. Oh, the things we can help you with! We have access to some really special places, and one of my favorites are the “trade only” fabric showrooms. The selection is completely and totally awesome and the staff is knowledgeable and helpful. There are thousands upon thousands of choices, so their help is important. Otherwise I’d have to spend much more time (at an hourly rate to my clients mind you), tracking down that perfect pattern in just the right colorway.

Karen Saks is one of our showrooms and A. Hoke is the other. And they’re right across the street from each other, which is very helpful, except that the road is super busy and crossing it is life threatening, but I’ll save that rant for another day.

Would you like to get a peek inside the Karen Saks showroom? I just happened to take a few pictures last week to show you!

Rows and rows of fabric manufacturers, organized by vendor, type and color.

A couple of months ago, the editor at Houzz.com asked if I’d like to join their panel of experts who answer design questions on their stunning website. Of course I said “YES!” because I like nothing better than telling other people what to do. Have you taken a look at Houzz.com yet? Please do, you will LOVE it! I found this little blurb about it at shopsmartmag.org:

Houzz.com helps you design with pros

I love flipping through shelter magazines, and peering at gorgeously decorated rooms. It’s a great way to spend downtime and get ideas. But now one of my new guilty pleasures is Houzz.com (pronounced howz).

Hop on this site, where design pros download photos of their work and you’ll find thousands of drool-worthy room settings in all sorts of styles, including trad, mod, eclectic. Plus, when you see little green tags on items pictured in the rooms, you’ll find out where to get it and how much it cost.

And if you have a design question or need remodeling advice, just send in the photo of the room (or even outside area of your house) in question and you can pick up some free advice. The site also offers a new free app for iPads and iPhone.” by Sue Perry, 6/28/11

When you go to Houzz, you’ll see a search box. Put in something like “hardwood floors” and then click on “Ideabooks” or “Photos” or even “Products.” You’ll be amazed at the results. It’s like a personalized magazine.

You can gather photos that you want to keep and remember into your own Ideabooks. It’s very simple. If I can do it, you can do it for sure. Put DeCocco Design in that search box and then click “Users,” and you’ll see my growing collection of ideabooks Here’s an example of one: http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/306398/list/great-ideas It shows photos that people have posted that I think are worth remembering for my next design dilemna.

Last night Hub and I watched “The Company Men” on demand (I love on demand). As a family experiencing this very subject matter, we were amazed at how well they nailed it. Every character and situation was well played. Each person who goes through the loss of a job experiences it in a very personal and unique way, but there are (obviously) common threads, reactions and realities. The movie has a great cast–including Kevin Costner (still a hunk of a man). Not my favorite subject, that’s for sure, but a very good movie. You should see it!

It was SO great to take a little break and head to the beach for a long holiday weekend. To say that we had fun is an understatement. I kayaked for the first time and am officially in love with a boat. Is “kayaked” a word? I’ve been telling Hub for a long time that I want a boat, but had no idea what kind of boat I could manage on my own if necessary. Now I know!

Here’s a picture of Grandboy in the kayak with Mr. Bill. I think he’s squinting with manly exertion.

I know, he’s upside down. That’s how I took the picture in all the excitement and it looks weird if I turn it around. Not to worry, he went right back into the sound seconds later. Everything we caught was sent right back. Twice the hook popped right out of their mouths, which was a bonus.

Seeing some of the bog fires on the way to the Outer Banks was really weird . Lots of damage. Miles and miles of blackened trees and brush.

More to come very soon. I worked like a crazy woman to be able to go to the beach–some wonderful clients have come my way this year and I had to find a point where I could freeze everything in place for just a bit. Summer is usually a slow time in my business, but so far that’s not the case. I hope you’re having some fun this summer. Life is short. Go to Dairy Queen.